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KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MUSIC Atlanta Symphony Orchestra JUN MÄRKL, Conductor GIORA SCHMIDT, Violin Saturday, February 3, 2018 Dr. Bobbie Bailey & Family Performance Center, Morgan Hall Friday, October 12, 2018 at 8 pm Seventy-fourth and Seventy-fifth Concerts Dr. Bobbie Bailey & Family Performance Center, Morgan Hall of the 2017-18 Concert Season Eighteenth Concert of the 2018-19 Concert Season 18SEASON19 "Vive la France" HECTOR BERLIOZ (1803–1869) Overture to Benvenuto Cellini, Opus 23 (1838) HENRI VIEUXTEMPS (1820–1881) Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 5 in A minor, Opus 37 (1861) I. Allegro non troppo; Moderato II. Adagio III. Allegro con fuoco Giora Schmidt, violin Intermission MAURICE RAVEL (1875–1937) Daphnis et Chloé (1912) I. Première Partie II. Deuxième Partie III. Troisième Partie Notes on the program by Ken Meltzer Overture to Benvenuto Cellini, Opus 23 (1838) ector Berlioz was born in La Côte-Saint-André, Isère, France, on HDecember 11, 1803, and died in Paris, France, on March 8, 1869. The first performance of Benvenuto Cellini took place at the Opéra in Paris on September 10, 1838, with Françoise-Antoine Habeneck conducting. The Overture to Benvenuto Cellini is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, bass clarinet, four bassoons, four horns, four trumpets, two cornets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, and strings. Approximate performance time is eleven minutes. In 1833, Hector Berlioz read the autobiography of the Italian Renaissance sculptor, goldsmith, architect, writer, and musician, Benvenuto Cellini (1500–1571). Today, Cellini is best known for his statue of Perseus (1545– 54), on display in the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence. As Berlioz recalled in his Memoirs: “I had been greatly struck with certain episodes in the life of Benvenuto Cellini, and was so unlucky as to think they offered an interesting and dramatic subject for an opera.” The premiere of Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini took place at the Paris Opéra on September 10, 1838. The performers, perplexed by Berlioz’s revolutionary score, did not do the work justice. In addition, Berlioz now had to face an audience that included composers and artists he had pointedly criticized in his own music reviews. Berlioz recalled that during the September 10, 1838 premiere, the Overture “received exaggerated applause, and the rest was hissed with admirable energy and unanimity. It was given three times, however, after which (tenor Gilbert-Louis) Duprez threw up the part of Benvenuto, and the work disappeared from the bills, not to reappear until long afterwards…” Benvenuto Cellini did enjoy some revivals during Berlioz’s lifetime, notably an 1852 staging in Weimar conducted by Franz Liszt. However, Benvenuto Cellini has for the most part remained on the fringes of the operatic repertoire. In 1850, Berlioz commented: “I have just re-read my score carefully and with the strictest impartiality, and I cannot help recognizing that it contains a variety of ideas, an energy and exuberance and a brilliance of colour such as I may perhaps never find again, and which deserved a better fate.” The brilliant Overture to Benvenuto Cellini, incorporating melodies from the opera, contains in abundance the positive qualities Berlioz found in his complete score. And indeed, the Overture has enjoyed “the better fate” the composer wished for his opera, and remains a staple of the concert repertoire. Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 5 in A minor, Opus 37 (1861) enri Vieuxtemps was born in Verviers, Belgium, on February 17, 1820, Hand died in Mustapha, Algiers, Algeria, on June 6, 1881. In addition to the solo violin, the Concerto in A minor is scored for flute, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings. Approximate performance time is eighteen minutes. Henri Vieuxtemps, one of the finest violinists of the 19th century, was noted for his pristine technique, beautiful tone, and exemplary musicianship. The eminent Viennese critic, Eduard Hanslick, once wrote: “Listening to Vieuxtemps is one of the greatest, most unqualified pleasures music has to offer. His playing is as technically infallible and masterly as it is musically noble, inspired, and compelling. I consider him the first among contemporary violinists.” During his career, Vieuxtemps concertized to great acclaim throughout Europe, Russia and the United States. Henri Vieuxtemps composed his Concerto No. 5 for Violin and Orchestra in 1861. He originally intended the work to serve as a competition piece for the Brussels Conservatory. However, the Concerto became a favorite of such notable virtuosos as Henryk Wieniawski and Jascha Heifetz. The marvelous synthesis of virtuoso display, elegance, and melodic charm continues to make the Vieuxtemps Fifth Violin Concerto a welcome part of any concert program. The Concerto is in three movements, played without pause. The first (Allegro non troppo) begins with a stormy orchestral introduction, presenting the first of two central themes. The fury subsides, leading to the soloist’s elaborate entrance, which incorporates the opening theme. The movement’s second theme, introduced by the soloist, is a lovely, flowing melody that Vieuxtemps directs be played in an unaffected manner (semplice). The repetition of the melody by various wind instruments serves as counterpoint to the soloist’s brilliant display. The opening theme dominates the ensuing orchestral tutti, as well as the return of the soloist. The movement ends with an extended solo cadenza, capped by a fortissimo orchestral proclamation. Two brief movements conclude the work. The first is a heartfelt Adagio, based upon the opening movement’s second theme. The Adagio proceeds to a grand crescendo, leading directly to the concluding Allegro con fuoco, a breathtaking showpiece for the soloist. Daphnis et Chloé (1912) aurice Ravel was born in Ciboure, Basses-Pyrénées, France, on MMarch 7, 1875, and died in Paris, France, on December 28, 1937. The first performance of Daphnis et Chloé took place at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on June 8, 1912, with Pierre Monteux conducting the Ballets Russes. Daphnis et Chloé is scored for two piccolos, three flutes, alto flute, two oboes, English horn, E-flat clarinet, two clarinets, bass clarinet, three bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, four trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, snare drum, military drum, tambourine, tam-tam, xylophone, crotales, castanets, wind machine, jeux de timbres à clavier, two harps, celesta, and strings. Approximate performance time is fifty minutes. In the summer of 1909, Sergey Diaghilev’s spectacular Ballets Russes burst upon the Paris artistic scene. Diaghilev’s brilliant and controversial productions inspired audience and critical reactions that ranged from adulation to violent rebellion. During his early years in Paris, Diaghilev made the acquaintance of several young composers with whom he would collaborate on some of his company’s greatest triumphs. For example, a meeting with the young Igor Stravinsky led to premieres by the Ballets Russes of such works as The Firebird (1910), Pétrouchka (1911), and The Rite of Spring (1913). Around that same time, Diaghilev met French composer Maurice Ravel. It was not long before Diaghilev, greatly impressed by Ravel’s talent and affinity for the theater, commissioned a ballet based upon the story of Daphnis and Chloe, a pastoral romance attributed to the Greek writer, Longus (approx. 2nd /3rd Century AD). Choreographer Michel Fokine adapted the story for Ravel’s composition. Ravel began work on Daphnis in 1910 and finished the piano score that year. However, the composer, dissatisfied with the finale, continued to make revisions. Ravel finally completed the fully-orchestrated score on April 5, 1912, just two months before the work’s premiere. The preparations and rehearsals for the Daphnis premiere were fraught with tension. Ravel conceived of his score as “a large fresco painting, less in keeping with antiquity than with the Greece of my dreams, which was more closely related to a Greece such as French artists had portrayed at the end of the eighteenth century.” Choreographer Michel Fokine and Léon Bakst (who designed the staging and costumes) shared a more revolutionary view that contemplated modern dance movements and garish color schemes. There were also arguments between Fokine and the legendary Vaslav Nijinsky, who danced the role of Daphnis at the premiere. The first performance of Daphnis et Chloé took place in Paris at the Théâtre du Châtelet on June 8, 1912. Despite the incredible assemblage of talent (including Nijinsky and Tamara Karsavina in the title roles, conductor Pierre Monteux, choreographer Fokine and designer Bakst), the lack both of sufficient rehearsal time and unanimity of artistic vision produced a rather lackluster premiere. In truth, full productions of Daphnis on the ballet stage have been rare. On the other hand, the score Ravel termed “a choreographic symphony in three movements” has enjoyed tremendous success in the concert hall. The Orchestral Suites Ravel fashioned from the complete work are staples of the concert repertoire—particularly the Second Suite, containing the majestic Sunrise and thrilling Danse générale from the ballet’s Third Part. Still, it is the complete score of Daphnis et Chloé that reveals the full genius of Ravel’s ability to grip his audience with an unerring sense of color, drama, and atmosphere. The shepherd, Daphnis, and Chloe are in love. In the ballet’s First Part, an Introduction and Religious Dance precede the couple’s arrival. A series of games ensues, including a contest between Daphnis and the bumbling cowherd Dorcon, with the reward being a kiss from Chloe. Later, Chloe is captured by pirates. Daphnis discovers Chloe’s disappearance and collapses in despair. Daphnis has a dream in which he encounters the god Pan (Nocturne). Second Part. (Interlude) The scene changes to the pirate camp (Dance of the Warriors). Chloe, now a prisoner, is forced to dance for her captors.

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